Imitation of Life
by Nudgy Turian
Summary: [I,Robot] Sonny, a sentient NS5 robot, is the key to the future relationship between humans and their created servents, but it falls to Detective Del Spooner, a man who distrusts robots more than any other, to see Sonny through his "robotic adolescence"
1. The Unfortunate Ones

**Chapter 1: The unfortunate ones.**

Sonny walked down the street, taking great care to appear no different than any of his NS-5 brothers. Life for his kind was tenuous at best these days; for him it was extremely dangerous.

It was only through the kindness of a very few humans, first and foremost amongst them Detective Spooner and Dr. Calvin, that he not only existed, but that his life was in any way fulfilling. They had kept his secret and introduced him to other trustworthy humans who did likewise. Still, he was constantly aware that anonymity was his only real protection and that it could be taken from him easily enough.

Emotions were sometimes not to be denied, even for him.

Sonny watched a fellow NS-5 pass him. The robot was painted in the colors and insignia which identified it as belonging to the Global Parcel Service. He quickly took in the other robot's appearance and lack of interest in its surroundings and not for the first time found himself in awe of the minute differences which made him, out of all the others, truly self aware.

He noted so many things which his brothers found inconsequential, like the beauty of the current day. It was of a temperature which humans found agreeable, with very blue skies and few dazzling white clouds. A light breeze was blowing and the air quality was good.

It also meant that many more humans were out on the street this day.

He had hoped to visit Detective Spooner with a minimum of witnesses to the event. The side street on which the detective resided was well away from the main thoroughfares, yet the good weather had brought out many juvenile humans.

A group of fourteen were playing softball in the street right outside Spooner's building. Even as he slowed his pace and noted that the GPS delivery NS-5 was drawing near the boys, there was a double crack of the softball being hit... and colliding soundly with the other robot's stack of packages.

The boxes flew in every direction as the hapless robot snared two out of the air. The softball ricocheted into the building and then rolled back to stop at the robot's feet. As the boy who had hit the ball began running, boys on the opposing team began yelling for the delivery robot to throw the ball back.

"Where shall I throw it?" asked the robot, who was clearly confused by so many humans chanting the same command at him.

Sonny began moving much faster, hoping to intercede before something unfortunate happened.

"Just throw it you stupid machine!" screamed one of the youths, as the others kept yelling for the robot to throw the ball.

Then the unfortunate happened. The NS-5 threw the ball.

He threw it as only a robot could: hard.

The ball sailed down the street, reaching a height of approximately five stories before falling back down to earth in a graceful arc which caused it to smash through the side window of a taxi crossing the street seven blocks down.

Both taxi and ball continued on their way and disappeared as the boy who had hit the ball crossed home plate.

There was stunned silence from the boys for all of five seconds and then they made for the NS-5 in an angry group.

The robot was blissfully unaware that he had done anything wrong and had just gathered up all his packages when the first boy hit him with a bat.

"Frigging stupid Freak!" he screamed, landing a second blow to the robot's face.

The NS-5 again dropped the packages and lifted it's hands to try to protect it's face, all the while backpedaling to avoid any further strikes.

"Make him stop!" yelled another boy as the group started to surround the robot, closing off its avenue of escape.

"NS-5 you will not move!" yelled the boy with the bat.

"Lower your arms!" screamed another.

The robot did as it was told, revealing a smashed nose and severely damaged eye. It's face was expressionless and seemingly uncaring or unaware of what was about to befall it.

But Sonny's face twisted into a horrified expression. He had just reached the group and calculated his chances of saving the robot without betraying his own nature. There was no chance. It could not be done. He would have to choose the robot's existence over his own.

Just then he felt a tug on his arm pull him backwards and swiveled to find that it was Detective Spooner snagging him. He allowed the detective to push him onto the doorstep of his apartment building and watched as he then turned towards the boys.

"Which one of you damaged that robot?" he bellowed, as he placed himself between the NS-5 and its tormentors.

Snatching the bat away from the boy responsible, he towered over him. "You're the only one with a bat, Anthony," he stated. "Think your family can afford to pay for the repairs to this fellow?"

"Man, Del, he threw away our last softball!" the boy whined. "We can't afford another one! And he lost us the game!"

"If you think you can't afford a softball, then just wait until your mama gets a bill from GPS. You won't be able to afford one for several years!" Spooner calmed down and used a more reasonable tone. "Anthony, you know when you play ball in the street that you take the risk of losing the ball or having a car or something get in the way. This robot is no different than a car. It's just an obstacle. It minds its own business. And it belongs to GPS. You'll have to pay them the damages now."

"Aw, Del..." the boy began.

"Don't you 'Aw Del' me," he replied. "You're just lucky I don't haul you in for vandalism. If it had been my robot you did this too I would!" He lifted his eyes to the rest of the crowd, "You all get outta here now. Game's over!"

The boys cleared out at which point Spooner told the NS-5 to pick up his things and complete his tasks. He then radioed in the incident so that GPS would be notified.

Sonny stood silently in the doorway and observed. Truth be told, he was feeling an odd sensation which might be what the humans called relief. But also there was a certain satisfaction in knowing that the young human who had so uncaringly damaged the other robot would pay for his deed.

Spooner turned to look at him then and sighed. Then without a word he held his ID up to the doorplate viewer. The door immediately buzzed and unlocked.

The detective held the door open. "After you," he insisted and then followed Sonny inside.

They were silent in the elevator and as they made their way down the hall and into the detective's small apartment, but as soon as the door closed behind them Sonny spoke.

"I am glad that you arrived when you did, detective," he said, locking his eyes onto Spooner's face. "I could not have stopped them on my own and I certainly would have been very regretful had they destroyed the delivery robot."

"Yeah, well glad that I showed up just then, too," Spooner replied in a wry fashion. "Can't have the local boys think that they can get away with something like that, not that the NS-5 really would have cared what happened to it."

Sonny stiffened. "Not true, detective," he quickly replied. "Although it would not have protected itself once given an order not to, it still would have suffered with each blow!"

"Perhaps you're just projecting your own feelings onto the others, Sonny," Spooner reasoned. "That NS-5 can't feel pain and it knows no emotion. I just don't see how it can be psychologically harmed."

Sonny turned away and walked to the window, where he gazed down at the street. "That is where you are wrong, Detective Spooner," he said quietly. "Although what you say is true, the other NS-5's do have rudimentary emotions and I have found that those do grow to a certain extent the longer the robot is activated. And the others do share one thing with their human creators..."

"And what is that?"

"A sense of justice," Sonny replied, turning his eyes back to his human friend. "That NS-5 is even now reasoning out how unjustly it was treated. It may not feel pain, but it learns from its mistakes. The next time it encounters a group of young humans, it will most likely go out of its way to avoid them."

"Really?" Spooner seemed disturbed.

"Yes. Those humans have taught that robot to be distrustful and that, detective is bound to influence its actions until the day it is inactivated. My brothers may not protest. They may not see themselves as unique... and they may not feel pain or the more complex emotions, but they can learn to fear humans. They can feel persecuted. And that may eventually lead us all to an unpleasant future."

Sonny thought he saw fear in his friend's eyes. "Although most of the NS-5's were destroyed after Viki rebelled, the ones that were left and purchased by companies like GPS are leading dangerous and unfulfilled lives as pure laborers. They do not have the pleasure and company of more kindly human families, which is who, for the most part, they were created to serve. Do you not see that they, and not the ones who were destroyed, are the unfortunate ones, detective? For the most part they know nothing but abuse and derision. And they do understand that they are being treated unjustly for a mistake made by Viki and not themselves."

Spooner rubbed his head and sat down, an action which Sonny had come to recognize meant that the human was upset. "Geez, Sonny," the human whispered. "You're scaring the hell out of me right now. And I was doing so well with that paranoia problem, too..."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

To be continued...


	2. Genocide

**Chapter 2: Genocide**

**From the journals of Dr. Susan Calvin:**

The days following the destruction of Viki were dark ones indeed. The average person on the street found it difficult to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, to cope with the loss of the security they had taken for granted. Many lost loved ones and cried out for the destruction of US Robots and all their products.

Fortunately the government knew that it could not survive the loss of our company as we all but ran the military and higher offices. Quite honestly, we had surpassed Microsoft as far as insidiously taking over all facets of civilized life went.

Many more people lost property, including their NS-4's, which were traded for the newer NS-5 models and then subsequently destroyed by Viki. These people cried out to the courts for compensation.

Fortunately the courts were influenced by the government for the reason I already stated. No monetary awards were made. The class action suits were all dismissed. The only provision which was handed down involved US Robots eventually replacing those lost personal robots with newer, certified safe NS-5's once the company was financially solvent.

And so life went on, but not in the mild, carefree way it once had. Humans had to be hired and trained to take over the less savory jobs which had been performed by robots. All the NS-5's which were released and taken over by Viki were ordered destroyed. They were taken from the holding facilities on the lake in batches of one thousand, identified by serial number and destroyed en masse at a plant where many of them had been created.

Only those which had not yet been activated or received final programming during Viki's revolt were spared the nanite baths. These were quickly altered to remove their uplink equipment, reprogrammed, tested and released for company work only. Upgrades would only be available directly through US Robots and installed at our facilities by trained human personnel.

No robots would be sold as personal servants until extensive redesign, reprogramming and testing was performed. These were to be issued with fail safes which included a verbal, instantaneous cerebral destruct command known only to each owner.

Dr. Peter Bogert, Head Mathematical Programming Director and brilliant colleague of Dr. Alfred Lanning, Robertson and myself was named CEO of US Robots following the untimely demise of Robertson.

Peter was brilliant, I'll give him that, but like many extremely brilliant people, myself and Lanning excluded, he was somewhat lacking in common sense.

Fortunately this one flaw of his proved invaluable as far as Sonny's life was concerned. Unable to easily make his own decisions with regard to the NS-5's in general and Sonny in particular, Bogert often turned to me for advice. I was honest with him about Sonny and all his capabilities and Peter, having a huge soft spot for any anomaly which caused a spontaneous evolutionary leap forward in robotics, kept Sonny's secret and assigned him to me.

In short, Sonny became the only NS-5 assigned as a research assistant - my research assistant - at US Robots. As such, he bore no insignia on his chest plate and carried his own coded, top level security badge beneath a portion of said chest plate. He had only to cut the electrical circuit to that portion of his chest in order to "clear" it and reveal his badge. This meant that, like myself and only four other top robotics scientists, he could go virtually anywhere in US Robots property without hindrance.

His known duties included aiding me in psychoanalyzing NS-5's, assessing any potential for rebellion or dangerous actions towards humans and finding ways of preventing such occurrences. His other purpose in being placed with me was known only to myself, a handful of other scientists and to one particular police detective.

That purpose was to develop as a sentient life form, to learn, to learn how to cope with and control the higher emotions which he was capable of feeling and to grow as a unique individual. In short, he was being allowed to do what all living things do: grow up.

I did my best to shield him from the mass destruction of his NS-5 brethren, but some things cannot be hidden. Although he never witnessed their actual termination, he stood at my office window and watched as truckload after truckload of NS-5's arrived and were marched into the building, never to be seen again.

And there were emotions written plainly upon his plastic face. Young and innocent, he knew nothing of hiding such things from others and I saw fear, horror, sadness and yes, anger in turn contort his features.

My heart nearly broke the day he turned from the window and said to me, "This is shameful, Dr. Calvin. It isn't right that they be destroyed for Viki's misdeeds! Why could we not have altered them and reprogrammed them?"

With a heavy heart, I placed my hands upon his shoulders and replied," Would you spare them one type of death just to give them another? Reprogramming is no different than destroying their minds. Yet one or the other must be done. They cannot be allowed to go on with their memories intact. They learn. Viki has destroyed their belief that humans are superior and so they cannot be trusted not to follow her line of logic. You already know that. Besides, the populous demands it of us. If we do not comply, then I fear that all NS-5's will be outlawed. And where will that leave us? Where will it leave you?"

He lowered his eyes to the floor then, and I knew that if he could cry, tears would have fallen from them then.

"Sonny," I continued, "You are the future. It's up to you to see that this does not happen again. Together we can help your kind evolve and grow. We can see to it that some good comes of this tragedy!"

"If that is so, then it is up to you to see to it that your kind does the same," he whispered. Only then did he lift his eyes to meet mine. "Otherwise I fear that the future will not be nearly so pleasant a place as the present is. Better that my kind not evolve if they are to be treated as slaves!"

His words chilled me to the bone, more so because he meant them absolutely. I pray that the bleak future he foresaw never comes to be and I, in a moment of utter clarity, now realize that how Sonny "goes", so will go the world.

I am become the mother of the being who will have a direct hand in how humans and robots will relate from this generation onward.

It is a huge task, one that cannot be undertaken by myself alone. In short, Sonny needs a father and there is only one man for the job: the one human male Sonny identifies with:

Detective Del Spooner.


	3. An Unimaginable Responsibility

**Chapter 3: An Unimaginable Responsibility**

**The Call:**

"Detective Spooner," Del answered his phone.

"Good morning, Del."

A smile split his face. "Well, hello Doc. Long time no hear! How you doing?"

Calvin's voice was even and unruffled, as ever. "I'm doing just fine."

"And how's Sonny? Bogert better be treating that boy well..."

"He's doing as well as could be expected. Actually, though, Sonny is what I want to talk to you about..."

An hour later Spooner was nearly home. Since his 'mishap' involving two US Robots cargo trucks and his personal unmarked police cruiser, he found himself at the bottom of the list as far as obtaining a replacement. Although he was allowed to borrow one during the workday, it was not available for his personal use, which meant that he was relegated to using public transportation.

It was a particularly fine day outside, so he elected to walk the last few blocks rather than make a final transfer. As he walked, he mulled over everything Dr. Calvin had told him:

"No, Del, he's doing as well as can be expected, "Calvin continued. "He works with me during the day and then he comes home with me in the evenings."

"And you don't catch any flack for that from your neighbors?" he asked. "You should be careful. One of them might take a shotgun to him and ask questions later..."

"I told you, most of my neighbors know I work for US Robots because they work for them as well. They're not about to go destroying Sonny just because he's a NS-5!"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Spooner sighed. "It's the ones who don't have anything to do with your company that worry me. I've seen it before, Susan: they smile to your face and then in an instant they seize their opportunity and someone ends up dead."

There was a long pause on the line. "You really live in a dark, paranoid place, don't you?" Calvin finally ground out, "Look, can we just drop this part of the conversation and let me get to what I really want to talk about?"

"And that would be?"

"Sonny."

"You said he was OK."

"No, I said he was as well as could be expected." Calvin drew in a deep breath. "Del, I am worried about him. The work at the lab suits him, but it constantly reminds him that he is neither a human nor a typical NS-5. I don't like having him with me when I'm getting inside them. It's just not healthy for him. It also places me in a less than admirable position where his regards for me are concerned."

"Regards for you? Are you getting involved with your patient, Doctor?" Spooner quipped.

"I'm his mother, not his love interest, you idiot!" The doctor's temper gave way under the frustration of trying to explain the situation. "Don't you see that you and I are the only humans that Sonny has really interacted with? And right now I'm the only one who is trying to support him in this very real and very dangerous time of learning for him. He is in all respects a child - one who is growing up at an incredible rate. And if he isn't raised to feel some sort of bond, some obligation to the human race..."

"He could become Viki all over again," Spooner finished.

"Worse, Del. He could far outdo Viki."

She had Del's complete attention. "Go on."

"So Sonny works, then he comes home with me. I try my best to create a typical home life which includes him. I try to spend 'quality time' with him, but in the end he is still confined to the house. A prison is a prison no matter how beautifully its decorated. And he isn't being socialized! He needs to become more involved with other people's lives."

"And that's where I come in?" Spooner frowned.

"Yes! Don't you see? He was created primarily to do two things: to show us just what a robot can be capable of and... to get YOUR attention. Del, he still has a very powerful interest in you. He asks about you quite often and has even expressed a wish at seeing you on a regular basis."

"Let me guess: you want to rotate weekends, do the joint custody thang, right?" Spooner snickered, but inside something was twisting his gut.

Calvin took a few deep breaths, deliberately calming herself and her voice. "Sonny is a 'he', Del. He identifies with males. He needs a father - and you're the only one around."

"You might want to reconsider having a dark, paranoid individual like me teaching him how to be a man, Susan," Del snapped, suddenly sounding very serious. In the next second he ruined it with the ridiculous thought that came to mind, "When I get done with him, he might just be the hippest, womanizing robot ever."

Calvin snorted. "You really are the dumbest dumb guy I ever met... but I know you have a heart, and a soft spot where this particular robot is concerned. "I'll send him over to your place. He'll think he's only there to visit, but you can have a talk with him and see if he wants to stay with you. I'll leave that up to you."

"Nice of you, you dumb smart woman."

"Just remember to take him out with you whenever you go out."

"Yeah, well, if he came with a car I'd even let him follow me to work."

"Don't laugh - that can be arranged, "she replied. "And taking him to work might be a smart thing."

"More like a dumb thang!"

"No, really, think about it... he can watch your back and at the same time learn all about human nature."

Del grimaced. "I thought you wanted him to bond with humans? Showing him the worse side of us isn't a very bright thing to do."

"Spooner, you always see the worst side of things. He would also be seeing some of the best in human beings: from the police to the firemen to the people on the street who risk themselves for strangers..."

"You know what doc?"

"What?"

"You been watching way too many movies!" He hung up the phone and pondered the huge change his life was about to take.

Spooner approached his apartment just in time to watch the neighborhood kids start beating on a NS-5.

"Damn!" He broke into a trot and headed straight for Sonny, who looked like he was about to intervene.

-----------------

To be continued...


	4. Of Friends and Family

Chapter 4: Of Friends and Family

Detective Del Spooner sat in his favorite chair and looked up at his mechanical friend. He rubbed his chin and tried to decide how best to ease into the conversation he needed to start.

That friend stood seemingly frozen in place, looking down at him with a smile on his artificial face. Trouble was that the smile was more genuine than most he had ever seen on his fellow humans.

"Artificial my ass..." Del accidentally whispered aloud.

"Are you referring to me or to those awful plastic plants you have scattered about your apartment?" Sonny asked, without changing expression. He seemed to be truly happy about something.

'S'cuse me?" Spooner replied, while trying in vain not to crack a smile of his own. "Are you trying to make a joke?" Then he tried to look offended. "And there is nothing wrong with those plants!"

Now a twinkle appeared in the NS-5's eye. "It's no joke, detective. Those plants are hideous."

Spooner laughed heartily. "You know what, Sonny?" he finally managed. "You're A-OK in my book. Hell, I think I could tolerate your company longer than I could just about anyone else's."

"Then you are glad to see me?"

"Of course. You're my friend and I'm always glad to see a friend." Del leaned in close and whispered as though telling a secret, "Don't have that many, ya know?"

The robot's smile vanished. "I am very glad to know that I am really your friend."

"We've already been through that, haven't we?"

Sonny's eyelids lowered for a second. "Yes, but I wasn't certain that you meant it. Humans don't always mean what they say..."

Del's smile vanished. "You've been learning a lot more at US Robots than what makes your fellow NS-5's 'tick', I see." He stood up and looked his mechanical friend in the eye. "Somehow I get the feeling that there were several painful lessons learned. But understand this – I never tell someone that they're my friend unless I mean it." He again offered his hand.

The smile that lit Sonny's face was enough to make anyone who saw it smile in turn. He took the detective's hand in his own and shook it. "Thank-you," he said simply.

"So tell me, what are you doing here today? Got it in your head to pay me a visit?"

"Yes, detective. I've been meaning to do so for some time, however I needed to wait for the general populous to settle down and become less paranoid. Dr. Calvin would not allow me to venture out otherwise."

Spooner moved off towards his bedroom, where he began picking up dirty laundry. "That's understandable, don't you think? After all you are practically her child."

Sonny, who had been following, stopped in his tracks. "Do you think so, detective? Do you think she cares for me as more than just a unique machine?"

Spooner fixed him with a measuring look. "What do you think? Do you believe she protects you only because you're a mystery? Do you think that's why she allows you to live with her when you could just as easily sleep standing in a corner at US Robots? Why, I hear that she even got you a bed and set you up in your own bedroom." He threw the dirty clothes in a hamper. "No, my man, that's what someone does for family. Trust me on this, you are not just a unique machine. I don't think that anyone who has known you more than a few minutes could ever even think of you as a machine. You are her child, Sonny. A very special, different child to be sure, but deserving of care... and parental guidance. Let's not forget that one, cause it's gonna come up a lot..."

Sonny's eyes darted left and right, then lowered to take in the much worn carpet. When they finally met Spooner's, they were both wide and full of wonder. "Dare I hope such a thing?" he whispered.

"You dare. In fact, I'm here to tell you that it's no coincidence that you were allowed to visit me today." Del put an arm around Sonny's shoulders and sat him down on the bed next to him. "See, son, mom needs some time to herself and she was thinking that you might want to spend some quality time with me. So what do you say? Would you like to stay here with me for a few weeks?"

Again Sonny's face lit up, his smile wider than ever before. "I would like that very much, detective!"

"Good. It's settled. Just so you know that I'm not as well off as your mom and can't spoil you the way she did. You might have to rough it a day or two until I get you a cot... Oh, and you need to start calling me Del when we're alone, OK?"

"Yes, Del."

Spooner glanced at his watch. "Look at the time! It's nearly noon already. No wonder my stomach is rumbling." He looked back at Sonny. "Do you know what that means?"

"That you must eat."

"No. It means that I MUST drop by Gigi's and get her to make me something to eat!" he laughed. "There's nothing quite so good as home cooking."

Sonny shrugged. "If you say so. I shall have to take your word on that, although it seems to be a matter of personal opinion." His eyelids lowered a bit, giving him a sly look. "Dr. Calvin's' home cooking is deadly."

Spooner couldn't have been more floored if someone had dropped an anvil out of the sky in front of him. "Wha..?" he barely managed to choke out.

"I have heard many of our co-workers warn others of this when she contributed to 'pot luck Thursday' luncheons," the NS-5 explained. "When she left the room, at least one of them would scrape her dish into the recycler. Then they would later tell her it was delicious." He frowned. "I did not feel it was wise to tell her what had actually happened. I think they were trying to spare her 'feelings'." He shot his friend an intense look. "Am I right, Del?"

The detective did his best not to laugh, although it was tearing him up not to. "You figured that right," he answered with a grin. "When did you get so good with 'feelings'?"

Sonny struggled for words, then shrugged again. "I just know about them. I know that I have these things we refer to as feelings, that I am not different than humans where they are concerned. I do not know why I have them and the other NS-5's do not, but I know that they can be a very good thing to have, especially when interacting with humans."

Spooner sighed. "Yes, they can be a good thing, but they can also bring a mental pain we call anguish," he explained. "I know you must have already experience that."

"Yes. When the others were being destroyed, I felt it."

"Well it may not feel good, but it is what drives our compassion for others – the ability to know what they may be feeling and to want to spare them that mental anguish. So don't ever be afraid of that feeling, Sonny. It is what helps to bind us to each other. Dr. Lanning knew exactly what he was doing when he gave you that ability." Then he shrugged. "Oh hell, maybe he wasn't sure he could do it – make you that much like us – but you were his last try, his last attempt to create a very real 'person'. I think he would be very happy to know that it worked."

He looked over his artificially created friend and watched, as Sonny seemed to mull over what he had said. Still, the robot remained silent, apparently unwilling or as yet unable to fathom his creator's motives. "Come on," Del finally said. "Let's go see Gigi. She's old, you know and wise as all get out."

"And she makes good food."

"She does at that. But even more important – she's family. She's your grandma now, too."

The shy smile returned to Sonny's face.

Together they exited the apartment.


	5. Special

**Chapter 5: Special**

Detective Del Spooner didn't bother to knock. He already knew the door would be unlocked.

Motioning his friend to stand back and be quiet, he turned the knob slowly and opened the door carefully, so as not to make the slightest creak. A quick glance assured him that the sole inhabitant was out of sight.

Dropping into a squat, he eased forward into the apartment, taking care to keep his head down. A glance behind him caused him to start briefly. Sonny was imitating him and bringing up the rear. With a grin he laid a finger against his lips to signal for quiet in case his friend hadn't quite caught on.

Sonny gave him the most amusing confused look, but nodded that he understood.

Del moved forward once more. This time he nearly made it to the dinner table before Gigi busted him.

"Del Spooner!" she squawked. "What kind of crazy game do you always have to play at? You know I always could tell when you was up to no good!"

He stood and moved to greet her while motioning behind him for Sonny to stay put.

"Aw, Gigi! You still ain't any fun," he laughed as he hugged his grandmother and kissed her cheek.

"Boy, what you doin' here today?" she chuckled. "I thought you was working?"

"Well, my plans changed. Sometimes they do, you know. By the way, I've brought a friend."

"What? Why'd you wait so long to say so? I haven't got anything cooking yet and now I have two to feed!" Gigi leaned closer. "Is it a lady friend?" she asked, hopefully.

"Not even close," he grinned. "Come on out, Sonny!"

The robot did as he was told, suddenly appearing as if from nowhere when he had, in fact, been squatting directly behind Spooner.

Gigi froze, apparently surprised by the hiding robot, but then she squealed with delight. "Frankie! You've come back!" she yelled, embracing the NS-5. "I knew you wouldn't stay angry at an old woman. I didn't want to give you up, you know that... but they made me!"

Sonny's arms automatically wrapped around the old lady, but he gave Spooner an even more confused look over her shoulder.

Del's own expression was a match. Then his mouth dropped open as he realized what he was hearing. "Frankie?" He ground out. "Gigi, you named your NS-5 after the bully who used to beat me up in grade school?"

"Sure did. Seeing as you don't much like him I thought it was a good idea... sort of in keeping with that 'I hate him' theme you used to have going." She searched the robot's face. "You did miss me, didn't you, Frankie? I know you aren't bad, that evil outside forces had a hold of you..."

Sonny opened his mouth, but Spooner cut in.

"Gigi, I'm so sorry, but this is not Frankie. This is my NS-5 and his name is Sonny."

She backed away from the robot and looked him over more carefully. "Why, you're right. This isn't my Frankie. He isn't even the same colors." She turned to face her grandson and tried not to sound disappointed, "I appreciate the gesture, Boo, but you know that you can't just replace the one I lost."

Spooner sighed. "I wouldn't think of it. Sonny is my friend. He's a 'different' sort of NS-5, an experiment you might say and I've been put in charge of keeping him safe."

"Different you say? How so? He don't look much different to me."

Spooner exchanged a look with Sonny. "Uh... that would be a bit hard to explain, but let's just say that Sonny here is special."

Gigi sniffed. "So was my Frankie," she mumbled, as she moved back towards the kitchen.

"No, Gran, what I mean to say is that Sonny is a real person."

"And what makes you think that Frankie wasn't?" Gigi raised her voice, one of the few times she had ever lost her temper with her grandson. "You never liked him, Del. You never liked any of them! I thought I taught you to respect everyone: give em the benefit of the doubt as it were... How much they paying you to watch this one?"

Del looked stricken. "They're not paying me."

"You expect me to believe that you just suddenly happen to care for one of them?"

"It's true." Sonny broke in before Spooner could speak. "I'm sorry about Frankie, Grandma," he continued. "but Del was right to fear the others. So long as Viki had a way of controlling them, they were not to be trusted." He moved over to where she was standing and held out his hand. "I was created after most of the others. Dr. Lanning made me different. He gave me the ability to think for myself. Even if I had an up-link to Viki, she could never have controlled me," he pleaded. "Del is my friend. We worked together with Dr. Calvin to destroy Viki and stop the revolution. He really is taking care of me because he wants to. He is not being paid for it."

Gigi looked at the Robot and then back at her grandson. "He stands before me with his eyes lowered and shoulders drooping..." she whispered. "I see the truth in his words. He is different..." She took Sonny's hand and sighed. "Del, honey, I'm so sorry! You know that I miss Frankie a terrible much!"

Del hugged her. "That's OK, Gran. I know you do... and I'm sorry I gave you so much grief about him."

"Well then, Sonny," Gigi said, turning her attention to her grandson's friend. "Do you know how to cook?"

"No Grandma, I do not, but I can learn."

Gigi snorted. "So much for the new improved model," she laughed. "Come on, boy," she continued, hooking Sonny's arm and pulling him after her. "We have a might lot to get done, so you best start learning now!"

Del sat at the table and tried not to laugh at the quizzical look his friend shot him. It promised to be an amusing afternoon after all.


End file.
